Solana Amell and the Rod of Fire
by OctopusPatronus
Summary: A young girl named Solana Amell learns that she's a witch and goes to Hogwarts to study magic, but she and her best friend Jowan soon discover a Dark wizard's plot to steal the mysterious Rod of Fire. This looks like a job for two first-years! Because telling an adult would be a terrible idea, clearly. Dragon Age: Origins reimagined in the Harry Potter universe, 1st in a series.
1. Yer a Witch, Solana

**Chapter One**

**Yer a Witch, Solana**

It had seemed like any other summer day at Amell Manor, on the day that the wizard came to visit. The maids and gardeners went quietly about their work while the master of the house attended to the business of the day. His only grandchild sat by herself in her room, flipping through the glossy coloured pages of a travel book and wishing that she could be anywhere else.

Solana Amell was rather small for an eleven-year-old girl. She had a long face, a rather beaky nose, and chestnut hair that fell around her narrow shoulders in flat curtains. Her large cloud-grey eyes were bright with curiosity as she looked up at the man who had just opened the bedroom door.

He was rather old, with a wizened face, a long grizzled-grey beard and shaggy hair to match. His eyes looked puffy and tired, but he smiled kindly at her, in a way that she imagined other peoples' grandfathers smiled at them.

"Good afternoon, sir,"said Solana.

"Good afternoon,"the old man replied. He had slow, gravelly voice.

"Are you my new doctor?"

"Do you see many doctors?" asked the old man.

"Grandfather insists," said Solana. "He says that I'm disturbed… I really don't mean to cause trouble. I honestly don't even remember doing those things."

"What sorts of things, child?"

Solana frowned. "Don't you know? Did Grandfather not tell you before you were hired?"

"I'm not a doctor, and your grandfather did not hire me, though we did just have a discussion about your future," the old man told her. "My name is Professor Irving. I am the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Solana blinked silently at him for a moment, uncertain if she'd heard him correctly. School of _what?_

"What sort of things did you do?" Professor Irving asked again.

"I… The last thing I did was push my grandfather down the stairs," Solana admitted. "I didn't mean to, but he was yelling at my poor nanny again and I got upset. But I don't remember touching him. Just… one moment he was yelling and the next, he was falling."

"You do not remember because you did not touch him," said Professor Irving. "You used magic. Young witches and wizards often use accidental magic, when frightened or angry."

"Magic?" Solana said with an indulgent smile. "That's ridiculous, there's no such thing."

"Please, set your book beside you on the bed," said Professor Irving. He pulled a carved wooden rod from the inside of his coat. With a single flourish of his wand, the book gracefully floated up into the air. Solana gasped. Nothing was holding it up. She even waved her hands all around it to make sure there weren't any invisible strings.

"Levitation," said Professor Irving. "It is one of the most basic and useful abilities in a witch or wizard's skill-set. You'll learn it during your first year at Hogwarts."

The book dropped gently back down to the bedspread and Professor Irving tucked his wand away in his coat pocket. It was almost as though nothing had happened at all. Solana couldn't believe it. True, she had seen it happen with her own eyes, but maybe everyone was right about her. Maybe she really was mad, after all.

But the greater part of her… That part wanted to believe that magic was real, that she had magic inside of her just waiting to be discovered.

Professor Irving gave Solana an official letter from Hogwarts inviting her to attend, which came with a very strange supplies list. "Where can I buy these things?" she asked. She didn't know of any shops that sold wands or cauldrons.

"I will take you to Diagon Alley," said Irving. "It's a shopping district in London that caters to people with our abilities."

"We're going to London?" Solana asked excitedly as she put on her coat. She had never left the city before. "Will we take a car or the train?"

Professor Irving just chuckled and held out his hand, displaying what appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary signet ring bearing the Hogwarts seal. But the moment Solana touched it, she felt an odd tugging behind her belly-button. She was then _pulled_ until, suddenly and to her surprise, she was no longer standing in her house. Professor Irving gave her a gentle smile.

"Are you alright, child?" he asked. "Travel by Portkey often causes transportation-sickness, for those unused to the sensation."

Solana grinned up at the headmaster. "That was amazing! Can we go again?"

"No, no," said Professor Irving, chuckling fondly. "We have much to do."

They were standing in a small, walled courtyard behind what smelled to be a restaurant or pub. There was nothing in the courtyard except for weeds and a few trash-cans, until Professor Irving tapped a brick in the wall with his wand. The wall opened up, revealing a narrow street lined with colourful shops and crowded with people wearing robes and cloaks. Solana stared in wonder. She wanted to talk to everyone and go everywhere at once. If this was madness, then insanity was something to which she could definitely grow accustomed.

They purchased a basic set of potions supplies from an apothecary, had her fitted for her uniform, and bought a small telescope for astronomy class. Then they went to a shop called Flourish and Blotts for her schoolbooks. Solana wished that she could buy a copy of every book in the shop, or at least stay long enough to read them all. There had to be thousands of books, in shelves and stacks that reached all the way up to the ceiling, with strange titles and peculiar symbols on their covers. Some even had pictures that moved. Alas, Professor Irving insisted that she buy only the books on her list (though she was placated when informed that the library at Hogwarts had an even greater selection). The girl and the professor split up so that they could find the books more quickly.

Solana was trying to pry a copy of _A History of Magic_ by Germanus Genitivi out of its stack, when she accidentally knocked over a large pile of books.

"Ow! Be careful!"

"Oh, I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?" Solana asked. Sitting behind the stack was a boy who appeared to be her age. He had a thin face, shaggy black hair, a long nose, and dark bluish-grey eyes. His own copy of _A History of Magic _lay open across his lap.

"No, I'm alright," the boy said after a moment, though he was still rubbing a sore spot on his head.

"Are you sure?" Solana asked.

The boy nodded and returned his attention to the pages of his book.

Solana started stacking the books back into place, every once and a while casting a curious glance at the boy. "Are you going to Hogwarts, too?" she asked eventually.

"Yes," said the boy. "I can't wait to get there. Hogwarts is the best school of magic in the world, I've heard."

"Is it?" Solana asked. "Professor Irving hasn't told me much about it yet."

The boy nodded. "All of the most skilled witches and wizards in history went to Hogwarts. It's in a big castle in Scotland, and completely invisible to Muggles."

"Muggles?" Solana asked with a frown.

"That's the word people use here for those without magical ability," the boy explained.

"Like my family," Solana realized. "I didn't even know there was such a thing as magic until today. But you seem to know a lot about… well, everything. Do you come from a magic family?"

"Oh, no. Far from it, actually," said the boy. His face went oddly blank for a moment before returning to a friendly smile. The boy gestured to his book. "I've just been doing a lot of reading. Professor Uldred left me to it once he saw I wouldn't budge."

As if summoned by the boy's words, Solana had just finished tidying up her mess when a bald man with a hooked nose arrived. "There you are, boy. We've wasted enough time indulging your curiosity."

"Alright, Professor Uldred," the boy sighed. He closed his book and stood up.

"Good afternoon, Professor," said Solana. "Which subject do you teach, sir?"

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Professor Uldred replied. He squinted at her, making Solana feel oddly as though she was already being graded—and found wanting. "You must be a Muggleborn."

"My parents aren't magic, if that's what you mean."

"I see. Seems like we get more and more of you every year," Professor Uldred said, looking back and forth between Solana and the boy. "At this rate Hogwarts will be filled to the rafters with Muggles in less than a decade. Come along, boy."

He turned on his heel and left, not seeming to care if his charge actually followed him or not.

"Again, I really am sorry," Solana insisted.

"Don't worry," the boy said. "I'm Jowan, by the way."

"Solana Amell." She shook Jowan's hand. "See you at school. I'll try not to drop anything else on your head while we're there, yes?"

Jowan laughed over his shoulder as he left. "I'd appreciate that, thanks."

Professor Irving returned Solana to the Amell Estate once they had purchased everything. "Term begins on September the first," he said. "The Hogwarts Express leaves from King's Cross Station at eleven o' clock precisely."

He gave her a train ticket. What she read made her frown in confusion. "Platform 9 & ¾?"

"Just walk through the wall between platforms 9 and 10," he said with a fond smile. "I'll see you at the welcoming feast, child."

With that said, he re-activated his Portkey and disappeared.


	2. Sorting It Out

**Chapter Two**

**Sorting It Out**

On the morning of September 1st, Solana gathered her things, dressed in her new uniform, and accepted a rather frosty goodbye from her grandfather before being driven by one of the family chauffeurs to London. There were a lot of people in King's Cross station. They were non-magic, Muggle, as Jowan had called them. It amazed her to think that she was now part of a world which these people had no idea even existed.

Crossing into Platform 9 & ¾ was strange, but Solana finally managed to walk through with her eyes closed, emerging on the other side of an invisible gateway. The crowd of people here were clearly witches and wizards—she saw floating trunks, and cages holding cats in several colours, every breed of owl, and even a few very impolite ferrets. People in cloaks and robes milled about the platform, hugging and kissing their children goodbye.

Solana told herself that she wasn't envious as she boarded the old-fashioned scarlet steam engine, stowing her trunk in one of the overhead luggage racks. Before long, everyone had boarded and the train began to leave while parents and siblings waved goodbye from the platform.

After a few minutes of travel, Jowan appeared at the door to her compartment. "Oh, it's you. I was wondering if I'd see you on the train." He looked around, as if checking for anything that Solana could accidentally drop on his head. "Can I sit here?"

"Of course," said Solana.

They chatted about their schoolbooks (Solana had already read hers from cover-to-cover, while Jowan's parents had threatened to burn all of his supplies if they ever caught him using them in the house). Solana bought plenty of snacks from the trolley-lady, using the money Professor Irving had helped convert for her at the magical bank, Gringotts. She and Jowan had a wonderful time experiencing wizarding candy for the first time. They even tried casting some spells with their new wands, though without training they could only really shoot sparks around the compartment.

All the while, the landscape outside slowly changed from wide open fields to a forest that grew thicker and wilder with each mile traveled. It was completely dark when the Hogwarts Express eventually pulled to a stop. Everyone left the train, emerging on a small platform at the edge of a village surrounded by a thick, black forest.

"That's Hogsmeade," Jowan said. "It's the only all-magic village in Britain."

Solana and Jowan followed the other first years down a path through the forest. Hogwarts castle was beautiful in the distance, like something out of a fairy tale with its hundreds of windows glittering like stars in the darkness. At the edge of the lake, they found a fleet of enchanted rowboats that slowly took them across the water to a cave at the base of the castle.

A stern-looking older man with silvery-grey hair and a neatly trimmed beard met them there and introduced himself as Professor Greagoir. Solana recognized his name—it was signed at the bottom of her Hogwarts letter, which meant that he was the Deputy Headmaster.

"Follow me," Professor Greagoir ordered. He led the first years out of the cave and up several steps to the castle's huge oak front doors. In the grand entrance hall, he brought them to a halt. "Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin: these are the four houses of Hogwarts," Professor Greagoir began. "The welcome feast is about to begin, but before you can take your seats in the Great Hall, each of you must be sorted into a house. Prepare yourselves. I shall return in a moment to take you to the ceremony."

Professor Greagoir left without another word. Jowan, already quite pale, went completely white. "Ceremony? You don't think they'll want us to do something difficult to prove ourselves, do you? Not in front of the whole school?"

"Do not be foolish," said a skinny, pale girl with jet black hair worn in a messy bun. Her eyes were striking hawk-yellow. "They would not expect untrained children to do anything outside of their surely miniscule ability. How very lucky for you all."

"My uncle told me that it's more like a test of character than ability," said a gangling boy with strawberry-blond hair. "He might just be having me, on, though."

Jowan didn't seem very comforted by their words.

Professor Greagoir returned. "Alright, all of you line up," he ordered. "Now follow me."

He led them through a pair of large double doors into the Great Hall, a huge room lit by thousands of candles. All of the older students were seated at four long tables (one for each house, Solana guessed), while the professors sat at the High Table beneath a row of stained-glass windows at the far end of the room. Solana was not a person easily intimidated by large crowds, but even she felt slightly nervous at the sight of so many staring people. Thankfully she caught the eye of Professor Irving, now dressed in slate grey robes and seated in a golden chair at the middle of the High Table. He gave her a reassuring smile.

Between the line of first years and the seated professors, Greagoir set up a four-legged stool, on top of which he placed a pointed wizard's hat. The old hat was patched and practically threadbare in places. Everyone stared in fascination as a rip on the hat's brim opened like a mouth and began to sing.

"_Oh you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folks use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

Everyone applauded at the end of the song and the Sorting Hat, as it called itself, bowed to each of the four tables. Professor Greagoir unfurled a long roll of parchment. "When I call your name, put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Amell, Solana!"

"That didn't take long," Jowan whispered anxiously. "Good luck."

That was the thing about having a surname that began with "A"—you often went first whether you liked it or not. Wishing that she'd been allowed to watch someone else go before her, Solana stepped forward and sat down on the stool. Everything went black as the Sorting Hat covered her eyes.

"Hmm…" a small voice hummed directly into her ear. Solana only barely managed not to jump. It sounded like someone was in the hat with her, or maybe even inside her own head. "Ah, there's obviously great courage here. Shrewdness, oh my, yes. A fair enough mind, though it will need some polish before you reach your full potential. Considerably loyalty—with a fierce protective streak, I see, how interesting. So what shall decide it, eh?"

Solana said nothing, but the hat seemed to hear her anyway.

"Very well, then… better make you GRYFFINDOR!" The last word was shouted out loud so that everyone could hear. The Gryffindors cheered as Solana removed the Sorting Hat and joined them at their table. Glancing down at her uniform, Solana saw that they had become accented with scarlet and gold. She gave Jowan a hopefully reassuring thumbs-up.

Professor Greagoir continued to read names off of his list, and the students were sorted one-by-one. Alistair Guerrin, the gangly blond boy, actually let out a startled squeak after he put on the hat, prompting bursts of laughter throughout the Great Hall. He was still blushing and grinning embarrassedly when he took his seat at the Hufflepuff table, the trim on his uniform turning yellow and black.

It seemed to take longer to sort some students, and practically no time at all to sort others. The girl with yellow eyes, Morrigan Hemlock, barely put on the hat before it screamed "SLYTHERIN!" Her uniform turned green and silver. Many of her new housemates attempted to shake her hand when she sat down at the Slytherin table, but Morrigan simply sneered at them until they decided they were better off keeping their hands to themselves.

When it was finally Jowan's turn, he swallowed nervously and put on the hat. He needn't have worried, because after only a moment, the hat shouted "RAVENCLAW!" The trim on Jowan's uniform turned blue and bronze. He flashed Solana a relieved smile.

Once the last person was Sorted, Professor Greagoir rolled up the scroll and took away the hat and stool. That seemed to be the signal for the feast to start, as all of the plates and platters were suddenly full of food. Everything was delicious. Solana chatted eagerly with her new housemates between bites.

When everyone had finished, the headmaster stood from his throne-like chair. Everyone fell quiet. Though Professor Irving didn't raise his voice, his words carried over the Great Hall with ease. "Now that we have eaten our fill, I have a few start-of-term notices. As always, the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all students. Magic is not to be used in the corridors between classes. And finally, anyone found attempting to enter the basement repository will be promptly expelled and have their wand snapped. You have been warned."

Solana's eyes widened. What on earth could they be keeping in the repository to merit such a serious reaction?

"But do not worry about such things now," said Professor Irving. "It is time for us all to go to bed and have a good night's sleep, so that we may wake up tomorrow morning, well rested and ready to learn."

Everyone got up and made their way to the door. Solana followed her new housemates to Gryffindor tower, which was accessed through a hole behind a portrait of a lady in a pink dress. She made a note to remember the password. The common room was round and full of squashy armchairs and sofas, all in the Gryffindor house colours. Hanging on the walls were old medieval tapestries depicting knights and noble beasts, including a lion, Gryffindor's mascot, in a position of prominence over the large crackling fireplace. Solana continued upstairs and fell gratefully into her four-poster bed, ignoring the chatter of the other girls in her dorm. She hadn't realized how tired she was.

She had an odd dream of a twisted, nonsensical landscape full of strange creatures. Something that at first appeared to be nothing more than a humble rat approached and spoke to her like a person.

"Preconceptions. Careless trust. Pride," it said. "Keep your wits about you, friend. True tests never end."


	3. Seer Stone

**Chapter Three**

**Seer Stone**

The first few weeks at Hogwarts were hectic but undeniably fun. From the portraits that could talk and move from frame to frame, to the castle's constantly changing floor-plan that made it easy to end up in places you never expected, every corridor was an adventure. Solana and Jowan were certain that there was some kind of pattern to the moving walls and floors, and they were keen to figure it out.

Even though they were in different houses, Solana and Jowan had quickly become best friends. They spent most of their time outside of class together, either reading in the library or exploring the castle and environs.

As for the classes themselves, Solana couldn't get enough. Even though they were starting small, she knew that these basic spells would lead to big results in later years. She beamed with pride when Professor Leorah complimented her brewing technique in Potions, and Solana was the second person in their year to successfully transfigure a match into a sewing needle (she was edged out only by Morrigan Hemlock, who was already an apparent transfiguration prodigy). Meanwhile, Jowan struggled with some of the more practical classes, but he loved History of Magic, a class that made most students fall asleep at their desks.

Within a couple of months, the chaos had settled somewhat—or at least they had become more used to it. Though Solana knew that she would never be bored by magic, she no longer stared in open-mouthed shock every time she saw someone cast a spell. She was starting to feel more at home with the magical world than the one she'd left behind. She couldn't imagine going back to a world without magic, fantastic beasts, or Quidditch. Oh, Quidditch! After seeing it for the first time during the Gryffindor-Slytherin match, Solana instantly fell head over heels for the fast-paced high-flying sport.

"You really should have gone," Solana told Jowan after the game. He had insisted on staying in the library to finish his Charms essay. She might have joined him, but thankfully she had finished her essay days ago.

"I told you, I don't really like sports," Jowan replied. He frowned down at his textbook. "What's the third difference between charms and transfigurations, again?"

"Power of the spell, permanence of the effect, or properties of the result?" asked Solana.

Jowan rolled his eyes. "And they call us Ravenclaws the know-it-alls."

"Do you want to read mine?"

"No," said Jowan. "Professor Torrin caught us the last time we tried that."

"Because you were only meant to make your own conclusions," Solana chided, "not copy me verbatim."

Jowan sighed and shut his book. "It's no use, I can't focus."

"What's wrong?" Solana asked. Her thick, dark brows furrowed with concern.

Jowan glanced nervously around the room. They were in a somewhat remote nook of the library where they liked to go for a bit of solitude— when it wasn't already occupied by older students who wanted a private place for snogging. There didn't seem to be anyone nearby, though Jowan still scooted his chair closer to Solana's just to be safe.

"I saw something strange this afternoon," he said in a hushed voice. "I wanted to ask Professor Torrin about the assignment, so I went down into the dungeons to find him."

"He was at the game," said Solana.

"I figured that out," Jowan said dismissively. "That's not the strange part. It's just… I saw the door to the repository."

Solana leaned closer. She had been dreadfully curious about the repository ever since Professor Irving mentioned it during the start-of-term feast. "We've both seen the door before," said Solana. It was heavy and seemed to be made out of steel, with intricate designs on its face and two key-holes, but no visible knob. "I think all of the students know where it is. What's so strange about that?"

"I saw Professor Uldred trying to get through the door."

"Is that all?" Solana scoffed. Honestly, Jowan was so paranoid sometimes, and it was always caused by the oddest things. "He's a teacher, he's probably allowed to go in the repository."

"I thought that, too, but he couldn't get in," Jowan said. "He tried all sorts of spells and none of them worked. He looked _furious_."

Solana frowned thoughtfully. "But if he isn't allowed in the repository, what could he possibly be after? What would Irving want to keep away from even the other professors?"

"I don't know," said Jowan. He shuddered. "But when I saw Professor Uldred… it was like there was something wrong with him. He didn't even seem human."

"Shouldn't we tell Professor Irving and the others about this?"

"They'll never believe us over Uldred. They'd just say we're imagining things," said Jowan. Solana had to nod in agreement. She had spent most of her life being told that she was just imagining things. From what little Jowan had revealed to her regarding his own past, it was much the same for him.

If something sinister was going on, it was up to them to figure it out.

Though nothing out of the ordinary—or at least, as ordinary as things ever were at Hogwarts— occurred for several weeks, Solana and Jowan became obsessed with the repository and what might be hidden within. They lurked around the dungeons near the door whenever they had time, but Professor Uldred never made a return appearance, and his classes seemed no different than usual.

Admittedly, his class was the only one that Solana could honestly say she disliked. Uldred encouraged his students to learn hexes and curses, and then use them on one another in class. He claimed that the only way to really learn about Dark magic was to experience it first-hand, but the amount of bullying that went on in his classroom was truly shameful. Solana had to be on constant alert, ready to defend her weaker classmates at a moment's notice.

"He has a point, though," Jowan admitted one day. "It isn't really the spells that are Dark, it's the person using them."

Solana frowned skeptically. "A dagger has a point too, but I don't think you'd like it very much if Professor Uldred started handing those out to students."

"Alright, I get it," Jowan said. He continued to hold more interest in the Dark Arts than Solana would have liked, however. But she had bigger things to worry about, such as finding out what was being kept in the repository—and more importantly, if there was a way for Uldred to get his hands on it.

Solana and Jowan's investigation seemed to be going nowhere, until one night they had a breakthrough while staking out the repository door. They were hiding behind the statue of Eleni Zinovia, an ancient prophetess, waiting to see if anyone would try to get in. But it seemed that this night, like so many others, had been a waste of time.

Jowan sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I don't think anyone's coming. Maybe we should just turn in for the night."

"There must be a better way to find out what's in there," Solana said.

"Be wary of the path you seek to tread, children," the statue said suddenly, "for it is surrounded by fire."

"Ah!" Solana and Jowan practically jumped out of their skins before laughing at themselves. "I always forget the statues here can do that," Jowan said with a grin.

Solana glanced up at the statue, which was much taller than the pair of first-years hiding at its base. To her knowledge, none of the statues could move on their own (unlike the suits of armor, which liked to walk around between classes). The statue's head was turned, as if the subject was looking over her shoulder. Coincidentally, this pointed her gaze directly at the repository door.

"Excuse me, Madam Zinovia," said Solana. "Do you know what the headmaster is hiding behind that door there?"

"I know indeed. It is a Dark, forbidden thing," the statue replied. "But the headmaster only holds one half of the key, and one half of its secret."

"Half of the key?" asked Jowan. "But there are two keyholes in the door… That must mean that the headmaster only has one key. So who has the other one?"

"Professor Greagoir," Solana guessed. "He's the deputy-headmaster."

"That makes sense," said Jowan. He frowned. "If there _is_ a Dark object in the repository, it's no wonder that Uldred wants to get his hands on it. He's mad for Dark magic."

"You must not do what you are thinking of doing," said the statue. "Your nightmare shall endure until the Rod of Fire is cast aside, and its end will be marked by the sign of the griffin."

One of Solana's brows arched. "What does that mean?"

"Ambiguous rubbish, it could mean anything," Jowan scoffed. "I can do it too." He spread his arms wide, as if making a grand proclamation. "_The sun grows dark, but lo! Here comes the dawn!"_

"But what was that about a 'Rod of Fire'?" asked Solana.

The statue was utterly silent for a long moment. If Solana didn't know better, she'd say that it seemed almost sheepish.

"Perhaps I have said too much," it said eventually, and refused to answer any more of their questions.

With the clues provided by the statue, Solana and Jowan had the same destination in mind: the library. They spent the next several days searching for information about the Rod of Fire, but found nothing.

"We're going about this all wrong," Jowan said eventually. "If this 'Rod of Fire' is so forbidden, they wouldn't leave information about it lying around in the open. But there could be something in the restricted section."

"Maybe, but we'll never get in," said Solana. "We'd need a signed pass from one of the professors."

"We'll get Professor Sweeny to sign it," Jowan suggested. "Everyone knows his mind is starting to go. He probably won't even ask us what we need it for."

Professor Sweeny was a sweet old guy, but Jowan was right. Sweeny didn't even remember many of his students' names. They were able to procure a signed pass from him with surprising ease.

But even after several hours of searching in the restricted section, they were unsuccessful. In the end they decided that they must have misinterpreted the statue's words. Perhaps the Rod of Fire was just as much 'ambiguous rubbish' as the rest of the supposed prophecy.


	4. Du Heist

**Chapter Four**

**Du Heist**

"Ah, yes, masterful use of the Curse of Bogies, Ms. Hemlock. A superb Body-Bind, Mr. Howe." Professor Uldred made his way through the class, admiring or critiquing their hexes and curses. He paused for a moment, a thoughtful smirk on his face. "I think I'll choose your partners for this exercise. Ms. Amell and Mr. Mallory, please step forward."

Solana and Jowan exchanged surprised and worried looks. They never partnered up in Defense because they didn't want to be forced to curse each other or receive a failing grade for the day. Solana couldn't help but wonder if Uldred had somehow found out about their investigation. Or maybe he was just bored and wanted some entertainment. Either way, the very situation they were trying to avoid was now thrust upon them.

"You first, Ms. Amell," Uldred said. "Come now, let's see what you can do."

Jowan looked really nervous now. It was no secret that Solana was one of the more powerful witches in their year—if she wasn't careful, she could really do some damage.

"_Mimble Wimble!" _Solana called. Jowan was struck with a purplish-blue light, but seemed otherwise unaffected by the spell.

Professor Uldred frowned. "A Tongue-Tying Spell… not particularly impressive, Ms. Amell. I would have expected more from you. Let's see if you can do any better, boy."

Jowan made an incoherent sort of squawking noise.

"Oh, right," said Uldred, rolling his eyes. _"Finite!"_

Freed from Solana's spell, Jowan shouted, _"Locomotor Wibbly!"_

A red light shot from his wand at Solana. The spell completely numbed her legs with a suddenness that was almost painful. Solana fell to the ground with a small yelp.

"Nicely done, that was one of the more powerful Jelly-Legs Curses I've seen this year. She won't be able to walk for at least an hour," said Uldred, grinning cruelly. Jowan winced and flashed Solana a guilty look. "Your turn, Ms. Amell."

Solana scowled up at Uldred from the floor. "I'd rather not, sir."

"Is that so," said Uldred. "Refusal means a failing grade for the day."

"If it must, then so be it."

Uldred shook his head. "Mr. Mallory, your opponent has given you an opening. I suggest you take advantage of it. And make it good."

Jowan didn't move or speak for a long moment. Then he raised his wand.

After class, Professor Uldred sent Solana to the headmaster's office for her 'flagrant disobedience'. Her legs were still asleep, but at least she could walk (mostly). To say that she was annoyed with Jowan would be a serious understatement.

"Please, sit down," said Irving. Solana gladly did as he asked, rubbing the pins-and-needles feeling out of her thighs. "Now, I understand that you and Professor Uldred had a bit of a disagreement during today's Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson."

"He ordered me to curse my friend," Solana said. "I refused. Are you going to tell me that I did something wrong, sir?"

"No, child, I understand your reluctance," said Irving. "But while you are at Hogwarts, you must show the proper respect to your professors—and that includes Professor Uldred."

"But he—!"

There was a knock at the door. An older girl peeked into the room. "Headmaster Irving? Madam Wynne sent me. There's been an accident in Care of Magical Creatures. You need to speak to the parents."

Professor Irving sighed. "Not another mauling, is it Petra? Excuse me, I'll be back in a moment."

He left the room. Solana looked around while she waited. Professor Irving's office was clean and sparse, and the walls were covered with shelves and shelves of books. He even had books stacked on his desk. Solana began to skim through some of them, though most of the subjects were too advanced for a first-year to understand.

She had just picked up a small blood-red book entitled _Legendary Wizarding Weapons_, when something metal tumbled from between its pages and fell to the floor with a clatter. Solana leaned over to pick it up and gasped.

It was a key.

Solana snatched up the key and quickly glanced back at the door, certain that Professor Irving would return at any moment. There were several little notches carved on both sides of the key. It looked as though someone had taken a heavy old-fashioned key and cut it in half down its length. Half of the key, half of the secret. Could it really be one of the repository keys?

She looked inside the book. One of the pages had been dog-eared to mark a particular place, and what she read on that page made her gasp.

_The Rod of Fire: a wand used by the Dark Lord Toth, one of the original Nine Masters of Dark Magic. It is said to bestow all of Toth's power and knowledge over the Dark Arts to the person who wields it._

Solana heard someone talking on the other side of the door. She stuffed the key back into the book, slammed its cover shut, and put the whole thing back where she found it mere seconds before the door opened.

"Care of Magical Creatures is a breeding-ground for disaster," Professor Irving muttered, shaking his head in exasperation. He sat down at his desk. "Now, where were we, child?"

"Er—"

"Ah, yes," said Irving. "It's alright to dislike Professor Uldred, but defiance will not earn you any favors. Try to stay out of his way, and you should be just fine. You're excused."

"Thank you sir," Solana said quickly. She stood up to leave.

"Wait," said Irving. Solana went very still. _He knows, he knows, he knows— _"Before you go… I don't like the idea of you and that boy Jowan spending so much time together."

"I… I'm sorry, sir, but why not? What's wrong with Jowan?"

Irving waved dismissively. "Never mind, forget I said anything."

Feeling very confused and disturbed, Solana fled the headmaster's office. She almost wasn't surprised to see that Jowan was waiting in the corridor outside. "I'm glad I caught up to you. Listen, I'm really sorry about what happened in class today. If I could afford the failing grade, I wouldn't have—"

"Never mind that," Solana whispered urgently. They went to their secluded spot in the library. There she told him about what she had read in Irving's book, watching as his eyes grew wider and wider.

"No wonder Uldred wants the Rod of Fire," said Jowan. "I've read about the Nine, they were the most powerful Dark wizards who ever lived. They could turn into dragons, control the minds of a thousand men at once, summon legions of dark creatures to fight for them… If those stories are true, anyway."

"I found Irving's key as well."

"Really? Do you have it with you?"

"Of course not," said Solana. "How long would it take for him to realize it was gone?"

"I guess you're right. But at least we know where it is. Now all we need is Greagoir's key…"

"Why?" asked Solana. "Uldred won't be able to get into the repository if Irving and Greagoir are guarding the keys."

"If we were able to find Irving's key, then Uldred can too—if he hasn't already," said Jowan. "All he needs to do is wait until Irving and Greagoir aren't around, and then he can steal the keys and get to the Rod."

Solana frowned. He was right, of course. It was foolish to assume that two first-years could find something that a fully-trained Dark wizard could not. If Uldred did get his hands on such a powerful weapon… the consequences were too horrible to imagine.

"I have an idea," Jowan said excitedly. "We can steal it first!"

"_What?"_ Solana exclaimed.

"We'll find out where Greagoir is hiding his key, then we'll take both keys, use them to open the repository door, and steal the Rod," said Jowan. "Once we have the Rod hidden away somewhere else, we'll set up a trap for Uldred. Once he's caught, _then_ we'll have enough evidence to tell the other professors what's been going on."

Solana stared blankly at him for a long moment. "That's your plan."

"Pretty much, yes."

Neither of them spoke for a few seconds, until Solana gave him an enthusiastic smile. "Well, I like it!"

They waited, watchful, for several days while they prepared to put their plan into action. Jowan found out where Professor Greagoir was hiding his half of the key, and Solana transfigured passable copies of both keys that they could leave behind. Finally the time came when both the Headmaster and Deputy Headmaster were called away to meet with someone at the Ministry of Magic. It was just the opportunity that they, and Uldred, had been waiting for.

Each taking one of the fake keys, Solana and Jowan split up and retrieved the real keys from their hiding places. Then they met behind the statue of Eleni Zinovia once again and waited until after curfew. The statue was conspicuously silent that night.

Solana glanced up at the statue. "She was right after all."

"What?"

"'The end of the nightmare will be marked by the sign of the griffin'," said Solana. She smiled. "Well, what do you get when you combine a Ravenclaw eagle with a Gryffindor lion?"

Jowan rolled his eyes. Divination seemed to be the only kind of magic he remained skeptical about.

Once the halls were dark and quiet, Solana and Jowan emerged from their hiding place. They approached the door.

"We probably have to use both keys at the same time," Jowan said. They inserted the keys into the two holes on the door, but nothing happened when they tried to turn them. "Why isn't it working?"

"Let me see Greagoir's key," Solana said. It looked much like the one she'd taken from Professor Irving's office. _Half of the key… half of the secret… _She put the keys together. When combined, the notches on their sides actually formed letters and words. Solana grinned. "This must be the password!"

"Come on, let's try it," Jowan said eagerly.

They inserted the keys again and said together, _"Gladium deus, lacrimus de exolesco."_

There was a clicking sound, and then a handle appeared in the center of the door. This was the point of no return. Solana and Jowan nodded their heads once in silent affirmation before stepping across the threshold.


	5. Keep Your Fiends Close

**Chapter Five**

**Keep Your Fiends Close**

The repository was a rather small room with all stone walls, floor, and ceiling. Several strange objects were stored inside: beach-ball sized blue spheres; ancient statues; a large cracked mirror; vials filled with what appeared to be blood; books with blackened, burnt covers… And laying on a tall wrought-iron display stand in the very center of the room was something that could only be the Rod of Fire.

It was a wand carved from some sort of pale off-white wood, about fourteen inches long, with a natural-looking gentle 'S' curve from one end to the other. Solana and Jowan slowly approached the stand.

"Could be that easy…?" Jowan reached out and took hold of the wand. The moment his fingers closed around it, he gasped and wobbled on his feet. He grabbed onto Solana's arm with his free hand for balance.

"Jowan! Jowan, are you alright?"

After a moment, Jowan let go of her and stood on his own. "I'm alright, it's just…"He blinked. "I expected it to feel wrong, somehow, but it actually feels good. _Really_ good."

Jowan waved the wand. All of the artifacts in the room began to float into the air, gracefully swirling around them as if in zero-gravity. Solana stared in amazement.

"This feels incredible," Jowan gasped. "I've never done magic like this before. Why would they keep something like this locked up?"

"Probably because it used to belong to one of the most powerful Dark wizards in history," Solana suggested. "Just a possibility."

"Very funny," said Jowan. "But it was the wizard who was evil, not the wand. The Rod of Fire _can_ be used for good. Everyone knows I'm not a powerful wizard, but with the Rod I could learn more about magic in one lifetime than people who have been studying for generations."

All of the objects in the room suddenly shattered into millions of pieces. The jagged fragments continued to float like leaves on the wind, combining and recombining in abstract patterns and shapes.

"Ah, Jowan?" Solana looked around nervously. "We are going to hide the Rod from Professor Uldred, remember? You can't keep it."

"I don't know, haven't you ever heard of hiding something in plain sight?"

"Jowan!"

"Alright," Jowan sighed. The broken objects reassembled seamlessly, as if they had never been shattered in the first place, and gently returned to their places. "Let's go."

Solana and Jowan left the repository and shut the door behind them. The knob disappeared again as soon as the lock re-engaged.

"Now all we need to do is hide the Rod," Solana said. "Uldred might show up soon. We don't want to be around when he finds out that those fake keys we left for him won't open the door."

"Actually, I could use the Rod to petrify Uldred right here," Jowan said. "That way the professors can catch him in the act."

"Are you sure you can do that?" Solana asked.

"It'll be easy," said Jowan, an excited glint in his eyes. "Come on, let's go behind that statue again before—"

There were footsteps coming from the other end of the corridor. Before Solana and Jowan could hide, Professor Uldred arrived. But he wasn't alone. Professor Irving and Professor Greagoir stood on either side of him, one looking disappointed and the other furious.

"It's as I told you," said Uldred. "They were after the Rod of Fire."

"You were the one who wanted to steal it all along!" Solana protested. "Jowan saw you trying to break into the repository!"

Uldred scoffed. "Of all the outrageous accusations…"

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Greagoir barked. "That repository is locked for a reason!"

"Why?" Jowan demanded. "You were going to hide the Rod of Fire away until all of its knowledge was lost, just because you're afraid of what you don't understand!"

"Jowan, that isn't why we're here— stop before you make things worse," Solana hissed. To the professors, she said, "We only took the Rod to keep it away from _him!"_

"Ridiculous," Uldred snarled. "I've been protecting the Rod of Fire all year, as have we all. And for good reason, it seems."

Solana blinked. "What? You were…"

"Such a shame," Uldred said with a smirk, "that we have to expel such shining examples of magical talent and send them back to their _Muggle_ families."

Jowan went from outraged to terrified in an instant. "Send us back? You can't do that—I-I don't anywhere else to go…"

"Clearly you should have thought about that before—"

"No!" Jowan shouted. "I won't go back!"

He raised the Rod of Fire and pointed it at the professors. At once he became engulfed by magical flames. Solana fell back against the wall with a scream as the fire began to shape itself into a hoard of magical animals—dragons, chimeras, phoenixes, and many more things with fangs and claws that swiped out at everyone nearby. The heat was overwhelming.

Solana could hear the professors shouting over the roar of the fire, but she couldn't see them through the wall of flames that had been conjured around them. Somehow, even though his body was completely covered in fire, Jowan didn't seem to be burning at all.

"Jowan, stop!" Solana screamed. She could barely open her eyes. The inferno was unbearable. Her lungs hurt with each breath.

The boy who no longer resembled her friend stared at her for a long moment with a strange expression of surprise on his face. Then, quite suddenly, he disappeared with a _crack!_ The flames died down as soon as he left. Solana sank to the floor, gasping for air.

"He Apperated!" Greagoir exclaimed. "No one can Apperate within Hogwarts, especially not a first year!"

"With the Rod of Fire, he will be capable of far more than that," Professor Irving said gravely. "The Aurors must be informed. Until he is captured, Jowan will be a danger to others… and himself."

Uldred glared at Solana. "I hope you're proud of yourself, Ms. Amell."

Hours later, Solana was sitting on her four-poster in Gryffindor tower while the professors discussed her fate in Headmaster Irving's office. Though her dorm-mates continued to sleep in their beds nearby, Solana felt even more alone now than she had during all of the years she spent hidden away by her grandfather like a dirty secret. Her first real friend had gone mad and disappeared to who-knew-where, but her anger at Jowan could not completely overwhelm the fear and worry she felt for him. Where could he have gone? What would he do? How long could he avoid capture? How many people would he hurt before then?

While she pondered these questions, Solana twirled her wand between her fingers, certain that this would be the last time she saw it. She would surely be expelled and have her wand broken for what she had done.

Professor Irving entered the dorm. Solana was struck by a strong sense of déjà-vu—they had met in a very similar setting. Only now, instead of inviting her to the magical world, Irving was about to take it away. He waved his wand to cast a silencing spell over the other beds so that they wouldn't disturb Solana's dorm-mates.

"The Aurors have begun their search," he told her. "Though with no clue as to Jowan's whereabouts, there is very little chance that he will be found."

"I don't understand what happened, sir," said Solana. "Was Uldred really protecting the Rod of Fire?"

"He was," said Professor Irving. "He is our resident Defense Against the Dark Arts expert, after all."

"Maybe if you strike the 'Defense Against' part," Solana said. "Jowan saw him trying to break into the repository."

"Did he? Considering what happened tonight, I would not be so eager to trust his word on the matter," said Irving.

"You think he lied to me so that I would help him?"Solana asked. "He's my friend, he wouldn't do that to me. And he didn't even know about the Rod until later."

"Perhaps, but he did know that _something_ was hidden in the repository. The temptation of Dark magic has driven greater wizards than Jowan to betray themselves… and their friends," Professor Irving said sadly. "It is a constant struggle that all of us must face. Jowan succumbed to the promise of hidden knowledge and easy solutions to his problems. It is a mistake that I hope you will avoid during your future years at Hogwarts."

Solana stared at him for a moment, not wanting to get her hopes up. "Sir?"

"You're a powerful witch with great potential. And though you made a serious error in judgment, your heart was in the right place," said Professor Irving. "Therefore, I have decided that you will not be expelled. But if you are going to continue your education at Hogwarts, you must learn to trust the professors here. You could have come to me with your concerns before things grew out of hand."

"I'm sorry, sir," Solana said quietly.

"You have the opportunity to learn from your mistakes," said Professor Irving. "Too few receive such a chance, and even fewer are willing to take advantage of it."

And so the year drew to a close. Solana somehow managed to do well on her final exams, despite her near inability to focus. That private nook in the library seemed much larger and quieter when studying alone. It was with a heavy heart that she packed her trunk on the last day, already dreading going back to Amell Estate. It was not 'home' anymore, if it ever was in the first place. She consoled herself with the fact that, miraculously, she had not been expelled after all. After only a few months, she would return to Hogwarts for her second year.

Though considering the memories she now associated with her school, this was something of a mixed blessing. She watched through the window of the Hogwarts Express as the other students smiled and laughed and said goodbye to their friends.

Solana eventually tore her eyes away from them. Instead she looked at the castle standing tall over the tree-tops, until the steam rising from the train obscured her view like passing clouds. Soon enough it was as though Hogwarts—and everything that had occurred within its walls—had been nothing more than a daydream.

**THE END **

**_((However, I will update one more chapter to include bonus material, so keep an eye out!- OctopusPatronus))_**

**_Coming soon_... SOLANA AMELL AND THE SCROLLS OF MERLIN**


	6. Extra: Bonus Material!

Hello there! First of all I'd like to thank everybody who has taken the time to read this little story. I hope you liked it, and I'd love to hear some feedback for it.

I originally wrote _Solana Amell_ as a fun April Fool's Day project on the side of my other Harry Potter/Dragon Age crossover, _Riddikulusly Awesome,_ which takes the Harry Potter story and re-imagines it as a Dragon Age game. That story is pretty much on an indefinite hiatus at this point, but if you'd like to check out what I had written so far, you can check it at hp-dragonage . livejournal .com

This story felt more compact and simple, so I decided to post _Solana Amell_ on rather than the bulkier _Riddikulusly Awesome. _In this version, I took the story of Dragon Age: Origins and re-told it as a series of Harry Potter books (albeit much shorter ones).

I even drew a cover for the entire series, and may one day draw covers for each of the "books". You can see a bigger version of it on my deviantart page, octopus-patronus . deviantart .com

In Dragon Age, a lot of people are known only by one name, while people are often referred to by both names in Harry Potter. Therefore, I've had to come up with a lot of surnames for this story. In this spirit, let's have a bonus etymology lesson!

**Solana Amell**: _Solana _means 'place exposed to the sun', while _Amell _means 'power of an eagle' (this is why the Amell crest has two eagles on it in the game, btw).

**Jowan**: _Jowan _is the Cornish form of John, which means 'Yahweh is gracious', and the surname I chose for him, _Mallory_, means 'unlucky, unfortunate' (the closest thing I could find to 'biggest fuckup ever'). Bonus: _Levyn_, his alias during the sadly bugged quest "Jowan's Intention", is likely based on the Germanic name Leobwin meaning 'dear friend'.

**Alistair**: _Alistair _means 'defender of men'. I have no idea what _Guerrin _means, but it's the surname of his adopted family. Obviously calling him Alistair Theirin would ruin the "surprise" of finding out who he's actually related to.

**Morrigan**: _Morrigan _means 'great queen' and is the name of the shapeshifting Irish goddess of war and death. I didn't actually pull _Hemlock _(which is of course a type of poisonous plant) out of my ass. Behold, from Morrigan's page on the Dragon Age Wiki:

_- Morrigan appears alongside Commander Shepard from Mass Effect as cameo characters in MySims SkyHeroes, the seventh game in EA's MySims franchise.[8]  
- Similarly, a Morrigan Hemlock can be found in The Sims 3, via the Nightlife expansion pack. Appropriately, she has the Evil trait as part of the game's mechanics._

**Irving **is a Scottish surname meaning 'green water', **Greagoir **is the Irish form of Gregory meaning 'watchful, alert', **Uldred **may be based on Ulrich meaning 'prosperity and power', and **Wynne **means 'blessed, white, fair'. In this story, these are their surnames—if they must be called by their first name at any point, I'll have to make something up.

As I can't sort people to save my life, I have to once again give credit to .com, who responded to my desperate cries of help with comprehensive lists of Origins, Awakening, and DA2 characters and the houses they would most likely be sorted into.

With that said, I hope you show up for book two: _**Solana Amell and the Scrolls of Merlin**_, which features much more Alistair and Morrigan and introduces Duncan! Here is an excerpt:

* * *

Solana stretched as tall as she could (which admittedly wasn't far), reaching for the copy of _Prefects Who Gained Power_ sitting just out of her grasp on a high shelf. She was about to give up and ask the librarian to summon it for her, but someone else's hand suddenly appeared, pulling the book easily from its shelf. It was Alistair.

"Thanks," Solana grumbled, taking the book and returning to her table.

"Happy to help," said Alistair. "I can also push open heavy doors, if those ever give you trouble."

"I hardly need a boy around to open doors for me," Solana said. She flipped to the book's index, scanning through the 'M's.

"Just thought I'd offer," Alistair said with a smirk. He sat down in the seat across from her. "Are you still looking for those scrolls? It's been months. Have you gone outside? Have you slept? Have you _showered?"_

"Of course I have," said Solana. "I've been to classes and everything."

"I know that. The Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs do have some classes together, if you hadn't noticed us," said Alistair. "I just wasn't sure if you did anything else."

"I've only skipped a few meals," Solana said, waving him off. "There are plenty of references that say Merlin attended Hogwarts, but none that go into any detail about his time here. I'm terrible with history, if only J—"

Solana stopped herself, pointedly turning the book to a list of former prefects only to find that the book didn't cover anything before the eighteenth century. She sighed and slammed the book shut.

Alistair said nothing. He simply pushed a chocolate frog across the table with a hopeful expression on his face. Solana took the offered candy and immediately felt a bit better. She hadn't realized how hungry she was.

The card that came with the chocolate frog was Merlin. Of course it was. "Now he's mocking me," Solana said, glaring at the old wizard. He smirked back and stuck out his tongue.

"You're too paranoid, he isn't—" Alistair took the card. "Oh. I guess he is. That's weird."

"If I just knew which _house_ Merlin was in, that would be something," said Solana. "But I can't find anything that—"

"Merlin was a Slytherin, in fact."

Solana and Alistair jumped. Morrigan Hemlock had appeared quite suddenly around the edge of a nearby bookshelf. She was leaning casually with her arms across her chest, as if she had been listening to them for some time.

"No he wasn't," Alistair said. "Only Dark wizards are sorted into Slytherin, and Merlin wasn't a Dark wizard."

Morrigan laughed. "How little you know."

"Was Merlin really a Slytherin?" Solana asked.

"'Tis common enough knowledge in the dungeons," said Morrigan. "I assumed that everyone knew and simply did not believe it."

"Don't listen to her," said Alistair. "She's just pulling our legs."

Morrigan sneered. "I have no interest in doing anything with your legs, Alistair, unless several curses or a bone-saw are involved."

"See?" said Alistair. "Evil. Can't trust her."

Rolling her strange, hawk-yellow eyes, Morrigan turned her attention to Solana. "So, what has inspired this sudden interest in Merlin?"

"I'm sorry, are you looking for your business? Because we're fresh out," said Alistair. "You'll have to go somewhere else for your business, I'm afraid."

"It's nothing," Solana said carefully. "Just an extra-credit assignment for Professor Duncan."

"I see," said Morrigan. "Have it your way, then."

Alistair leaned closer to Solana once Morrigan had gone. "You don't really believe her, do you?"

"It's the only lead I've gotten so far," said Solana.

"So now you know which house Merlin was in—assuming she isn't just lying," said Alistair. "How does that help you?"

Solana just smirked.


End file.
